Abstract
Cracking in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures may impact their durability and their structural integrity. Cracking is mainly influenced by stress distribution along the interface between steel and concrete. Thus, quantitative evaluation of steel-concrete bond, which is responsible of transferring load from steel bar to the surrounding matrix, and its effect on fracture properties is of major important. An experimental investigation on RC ties is reported in this paper. Tensile tests have been conducted on cubic specimens with different high adhesion reinforcement diameters. Those tests have been monitored continuously using the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique for a better evaluation of the damage process. The results show a good correlation between the load and the AE activity. AE signals with different characteristics have been observed during the different fracture stages. Parameters such as duration and energy increased with the loading level and can be used as indicators to detect the macrocracking of concrete. A parametric analysis is performed between average frequency and RA value. Ib-value of AE hits has been also investigated and decreases to 0.12 prior to the first macro crack.
Highlights
IntroductionThe implementation of advanced health monitoring system is necessary to provide advance warning of the structures distress, characterize the damage state and select a proper repair methodology to avoid such collapse
Many bridges and Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures collapsed during the last years due to aging
The Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) by means of non-destructive techniques as the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique offers the potential to identify structural distress that can serve as an indicator of damage and allows the prediction of the residual life of the structure [1]
Summary
The implementation of advanced health monitoring system is necessary to provide advance warning of the structures distress, characterize the damage state and select a proper repair methodology to avoid such collapse. The structural behavior of RC is mainly affected by the bond between the reinforcement and the concrete [2]. The bond-slip interaction between reinforcement and concrete is characterized by three main components: chemical adhesion, mechanical interaction, and friction. Few studies analysed the AE response corresponding to the degradation mechanisms between steel and concrete bond. This analysis allows a better real time monitoring of the fracturing stage of RC structures in order to maintain their sustainability [5]. The effect of reinforcement in terms of AE output is investigated and a detailed analysis of AE signal parameters with respect to bond stress is proposed in order to characterize the different phases of failure
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